It's a dirty little secret that I hide from the world, but I've decided I need to come clean about it.
It's my stash of empty garden pots. I haven't counted them. This isn't even all of them. They're multiplying at an astonishing rate. Every spring there are more of them, breeding like rabbits. It's out of control now. I've run out of room to store them. Pretty soon, they will be everywhere.
It's my stash of empty garden pots. I haven't counted them. This isn't even all of them. They're multiplying at an astonishing rate. Every spring there are more of them, breeding like rabbits. It's out of control now. I've run out of room to store them. Pretty soon, they will be everywhere.But there may be a happy ending for me. In August, at Midwest Groundcovers, I saw something that can save me from being overrun by pots. It's this lovely machine, which recycles plastic from garden pots.
While I can't take my pots to Midwest Groundcovers, I can take them to one of the local garden centers from which Midwest Groundcovers does take pots. All I have to do is remember to load them in the car next spring when I go plant shopping again.
While I can't take my pots to Midwest Groundcovers, I can take them to one of the local garden centers from which Midwest Groundcovers does take pots. All I have to do is remember to load them in the car next spring when I go plant shopping again.What do you do with your old garden pots?
Happy Halloween!
25 comments:
That is scary! I just found out that my curbside recycling will take all my plastic pots, no matter what number they are, so they are all loaded up in my ginormous bin waiting to be picked up next week. Of course because of the pots, I have no room for my other recyclables, so I'll have to play catch up to get rid of those. Now, what about those clay pots...
I give away as many as I possibly can, with plants in them of course. The rest unfortunately goes into the trash. That is a scary thought.
I'm sorry to say, I can't bear to throw them away, and I still haven't found a place that will recycle them. The garage is full and now they are spreading to the attic until I can figure out a solution. I am so glad some of you are able to recycle.
So far I have just let the plastic containers take over here as well...I can't part with them...
Ohhhhh how grueling for both the pumpkin and the pot. Skeeeery.
I hide my plastic pots in the bushes. The pile is growing... Happy and spooky Halloween to you!
You think that's scary... you should see what's behind MY garage door! ;-P (No, I won't show you. I'm too embarrassed. But at least I'm fairly certain there is nothing alive in there... nor anything that has recently been alive, either. lol.)
I'm lucky in that my curbside recycling will take most of my plastic pots, too--they take up to a #6 in plastics, and most pots fall into that. I try to recycle the ones I can, and reuse (for passalongs) the others. But sometimes I admit that I get overwhelmed and just chuck the un-recyclable ones into the regular trash. :(
My barn is full of pots kept for plant swaps and such. Who would have thought I bought that many plants. That's the scary part. If I count them it will confirm I'm some kind of out of control plant-a-holic.
Marnie
Love the pumpkin! We also have a local (ish) nursery that recycles plastic pots. :)
My collection is equally frightening! When you drop off your old pots at a garden center next spring, please give me a heads up so I can join you!
Oh Fudge! Another thing to confess
Hello,my name is Susan and I save black and green garden plastic pots
They don't accept plant pots in our Toronto recycling program, but one of our large grocery store chain, Loblaws, will take them at their garden centres before Labour Day. I knew this all summer long this year. And I still have all my pots in the back yard...
Nice pumpkin. I take my old pots to Barton Springs Nursery, which will reuse them for plants they propagate.
Carol - I'd pay extra for curbside pickup!
Lisa - I've also used the give-away-with-a-plant method, but it doesn't even make a dent in the population.
Barbie - the attic- what a great idea!
Darla - you're creative, maybe you can use them in an art project.
FGG - I promise, I shielded the pumpkin's eyes from the container stacks.
Hi, Tatyana, I'm embarrassed to admit that I have some stashed under and behind shrubs too. Please don't tell anyone.
Blackswamp Girl - I wish I could say there was nothing alive in there, but every fall the mice try to take up residence in the garage.
Marnie - you have mentioned the elephant in the living room. That's why I don't want to count my pots. I don't want to know how many plants I've bought, not to mention how many I've subsequently killed.
Monica - Thanks, the pumpkin is modeled on Jack Skellington as The Pumpkin King.
ROR - will you rent the U-haul for us?
Suz - it's better than throwing them away.
Helen - yes, that's my fear, that I'll think I have all season to bring the pots & I'll never actually do it.
It's nice to know I am in good company! I too, must confess, to saving plastic pots. I can't bear to send them to the landfill. Good to read Pam/Digging has a solution for our area. It is rather eye-opening to look at those pots and think about all the plants they represent.
I have an equally scary and larger collection of plastic pots MMD. Use a lot of them up though for our garden club plant sale and for seed sowing, swaps etc.
Some excellent suggestions here :
http://blog.shirlsgardenwatch.co.uk/2009/08/plastic-plant-pot-challenge.html
Wishing you a spooky weekend :)
They are stacked up behind my shed! i do use them to give plants to folks, but there are still way too many. We have curbside recycling but they don't pick up plastic pots, sigh. Boy are they evidence of my plant addiction! Happy Halloween to you. gail
Pam - I'm not surprised that nurseries in Austin do pot recycling too.
MGRR - I'm glad Pam was able to point you in the right direction to start decreasing your collection.
Anna - I need to join one of the garden clubs around here so I can get rid of some pots at a plant sale. Maybe some unwanted plants too.
Gail - good idea to hide the evidence.
Good to see that you can recycle your pots now MMD. Mine are currently housing a rather fine collection of spiders in the greenhouse. The spider collection means that I tend to pick them up very carefully and throw them about a bit before I can use them, to make sure the 'lodgers' have gone.
I reuse quite a lot of mine, after washing them out (boring). The little ones are good for seedlings, and the big ones are good for using inside expensive ceramic pots, particularly urn-shaped ones that might break when you come to take the plant out of it.
I even sometimes use pots instead of crocks as drainage inside big containers.
But just in case you're beginning to think this makes me sound like a real goody-two-shoes, I STILL have huge piles of plastic pots in the garden.
Love your jack-o-lantern. I wish we had somewhere to recycle pots too. I have tons of them in my garage. I use some for our local plant sale.~~Dee
If you think that's scary, come and see my hoard .... :(
Hi. I'm new to your site as I wandered into here from Lilac and Roses (I think!), but I feel the need to confess to a potting shed full of black plastic plant pots of many, many sizes!
Thanks for a really interesting blog :)
HM - I always look carefully into mine, but thick gloves & a well-aimed hose usually does the trick.
Victoria - I like the idea of hiding them, I mean using them, inside larger containers. I do reuse quite a few for my Aquilegia seedlings, but those tend to be the smaller pots.
Dee - do you need any more for your plant sale? I put them in the mail right now.
Sue Swift - I'd love to see it.
Hi, Nutty Gnome, thanks for visiting! I wish I had a potting shed in which to hide all my pots. But then I wouldn't be able to open the door.
Since our recycling program takes them, the number of pots still hanging around my corner of Katy isn't what it used to be. I keep some for those impulse digs, when I simply can't leave a plant where it is a moment longer but am not sure where to move it.
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